Why isn’t Rodri playing for Spain against Serbia in the UEFA Nations League?

The 2024/25 UEFA Nations League gets underway on Thursday (5 September), with Spain hoping to take the first step towards defending the title they won in 2023 by defeating Serbia in Belgrade. However, the Euro 2024 champions will start their campaign without Manchester City midfielder Rodri, as well captain Álvaro Morata.

How does the 2024/25 Nations League work?

Rodri and Álvaro Morata’s Gibraltar controversy

Rodri, one of the contenders to win the upcoming Ballon d’Or, was famously unbeaten in 74 consecutive games for City, a run which came to an end in last season’s FA Cup final against Manchester United. The former Atlético Madrid man played a starring role in Spain’s European Championship win in Germany, but he and Morata were embroiled in controversy in the immediate aftermath of La Roja’s win over England on July 14.

During the celebrations in Madrid the following day, the two players led thousands of fans in chanting “Gibraltar is Spanish!” which resulted in them both being handed immediate one-match suspensions by UEFA for “failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute.” They will serve their bans in Belgrade.

The Gibraltar soccer federation had filed a complaint to UEFA about the incident, saying Spain’s celebrations had been “extremely provocative and insulting”. Gibraltar is located at the southern tip of Spain but has been a British Overseas Territory since the early 1700s.

Spain stars Rodri and Morata make slow start to 2024/25

Rodri suffered an injury in the Euro 2024 final and missed Manchester City’s first two Premier League games of the season as a result.

Having recently returned to training, he was an unused substitute in Saturday’s victory away to West Ham United and we will have to wait until after the international break to see him back in action.

As well as being suspended, Morata may well have missed the trip to Serbia anyway after suffering a muscle injury on August 20. Since joining AC Milan in the summer, the striker has played for only 30 minutes as a substitute, missing the Serie A giants’ last two fixtures against Parma and Lazio.